Tom Harkin: “Another thing we ought to think about, I say to the Senator, is this: What the Republicans are saying--there are a lot…”

“Another thing we ought to think about, I say to the Senator, is this: What the Republicans are saying--there are a lot of Republicans who do not care if we default. They don't care if we default. In fact, Michelle Bachmann, Congresswoman Bachmann--who is one of their frontrunners for the Presidency--said she would never vote to increase the debt ceiling no matter the circumstances. As President Reagan said in 1987, it would mean that ``those who rely on Social Security and veterans benefits'' wouldn't get their Social Security checks, and that is exactly right. People have to think about this. If we default, that means all the people who have put their money into Social Security in the past, what we are saying is you may have put your money in there and guess what. We are not going to pay you. Is that what we want to do as a country? Social Security is backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government--more than anything than Wall Street has ever gotten. Wall Street can go under. The Senator is right, if we had put Social Security in the stock market it would be in the toilet now. But we put it into U.S. Government bonds because it is backed with the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government. That is why we have to support Social Security. That is why we can't support this cockamamie scheme they are trying to do here. I thank my friend Ohio for pointing those things out. It is a backdoor assault on Medicare and on Social Security.…”